The fabrication of highly ordered silver nanodot patterns by platinum assisted nanoimprint lithography

Nanotechnology. 2011 Mar 4;22(9):095304. doi: 10.1088/0957-4484/22/9/095304. Epub 2011 Jan 27.

Abstract

Silver has been widely used for optical sensing and imaging applications which benefit from localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in a nanoscale configuration. Many attempts have been made to fabricate and control silver nanostructures in order to improve the high performance in sensing and other applications. However, a fatal mechanical weakness of silver and a lack of durability in oxygen-rich conditions have disrupted the manufacturing of reproducible nanostructures by the top-down lithography approach. In this study, we suggest a steady fabrication strategy to obtain highly ordered silver nanopatterns that are able to provide tunable LSPR characteristics. By using a protecting layer of platinum on a silver surface in the lithography process, we successfully obtained large-area (2.7 × 2.7 mm(2)) silver nanopatterns with high reproducibility. This large-area silver nanopattern was capable of enhancing the low concentration of a Cy3 fluorescence signal (∼10(-10) M) which was labeled with DNA oligomers.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Crystallization / methods*
  • DNA / analysis*
  • Macromolecular Substances / chemistry
  • Materials Testing
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Nanospheres / chemistry*
  • Nanospheres / ultrastructure*
  • Nanotechnology / methods
  • Particle Size
  • Platinum / chemistry*
  • Silver / chemistry*
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / methods*
  • Surface Properties

Substances

  • Macromolecular Substances
  • Silver
  • Platinum
  • DNA